Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting ALLIANCE FOR YOUNG ARTISTS & WRITERS, INC. It is important to us that you know how information about you may be utilized. Please take a moment to look over this Privacy Policy, which we hope will address any questions you may have. This Privacy Policy applies to the Alliance’s artandwriting.org website, any successor site, and any other website owned and/or operated by or on behalf of the Alliance that links to this Policy and/or states that it is governed by this Policy (collectively, the “Website”). The Alliance is committed to protecting the privacy and security of its online visitors. This Policy statement provides our visitors (e.g., students, parents, and educators) with an overview of our online information collection, disclosure and security practices, and the measures we have taken to provide a safe online environment. By accessing or using the Website, you accept and agree to this Privacy Policy and the Website Terms of Use. We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time. We will post all changes to this Policy here, and your continued use of the Website after any changes to this Policy will constitute your acceptance of and agreement to such changes. Please refer to this Policy regularly so that you will always know what information we gather, how we might use that information, and whether and how we might disclose that information to others.

INFORMATION COVERED BY THIS POLICY

This Privacy Policy explains our policy and practices with respect to certain personally identifiable information and other information collected by our Website from visitors to the Site, and describes the choices you have as a visitor or user (“visitor”) of the Website concerning our collection, use, and sharing of such information. Except to the extent otherwise expressly provided in this Policy or by written agreement of the Alliance, this Privacy Policy does not cover information collected by the Alliance through any other means, and applies to our online practices only.

COLLECTION AND USE OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION

We consider the following, among other non-publicly available information that may identify an individual, to be personally identifiable information: first and last name, social security number, credit card number, email address, street address, phone number, geolocation information sufficient to identify street name and name of a city or town, photos or videos of a child’s image or audio files of a child’s voice received or collected from a child, screen or user names, “persistent identifiers” that can be used to recognize a website user over time and across different websites or online services, including a visitor number held in a cookie, an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a processor or device serial number or unique device identifier, and any other substantially similar identifier that permits direct contact with a person online, and any other personal user identification, password, or other personally identifiable information that may be needed to obtain access to or use the Site’s applications. We (and/or our agents, affiliates or service providers) may collect online and use personally identifiable information from our visitors: (1) in connection with the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program or other scholarships, awards, competitions, contests, content submissions, surveys, forums, and educational, literary or artistic materials, opportunities, or activities; (2) our requests for suggestions and visitors’ requests for materials or information; (3) to customize the content on our Site for our visitors’ current and future needs; and (4) to process and record donations to the Alliance. Visitors are informed of the information we collect through our questionnaires and surveys and how the information will be used before they provide this information. Upon written or email request, the Alliance will provide to visitors the ability to correct or update their contact information. Registered visitors will be responsible for keeping their contact information current and accurate and may do so by checking and, if necessary, modifying their online profile.

SHARING OF INFORMATION

Disclosure of Information to Third Parties personally identifiable information collected from you as a visitor to the Site may be used to provide you, via email or other means, information about materials, opportunities, and activities that may be of interest to you, including products or services of third parties. For these reasons, we may share such information with third parties. IF YOU ARE AN INDIVIDUAL WHO HAS PROVIDED US WITH YOUR PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION ONLINE AND YOU DO NOT WANT US TO SHARE THIS INFORMATION WITH THIRD PARTIES, OR IF THERE IS ANY MEDIA NOTIFICATION, PUBLICATION, OR MATERIAL THAT YOU NO LONGER WISH TO RECEIVE FROM US, YOU CAN OPT OUT BY FOLLOWING THE OPT-OUT PROCEDURES SET FORTH BELOW. Opting Out: You may choose not to have the Alliance share your personally identifiable information with third parties for the above-described purposes by simply OPTING OUT. You may also OPT OUT if you do not want to receive email from us in the future. In order to OPT OUT for any of these purposes, use any one of the methods listed below: Email us at: info@artandwriting.org (mailto:info@artandwriting.org) Mail to: Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. If you are writing to request that you no longer receive a particular media notification, publication, or material from us, please include the name of the specific item you no longer wish to receive. In addition, in every email that we send, we provide a link that you can click on to enable you to opt out of receiving future emails from the sender. Other Transfers and Disclosures: In addition to the above disclosures, personally identifiable information possessed or used by the Alliance may be disclosed or transferred: (a) to any entity that is a successor to, or acquires all or substantially all of, the Alliance or its assets or operations; (b) as required by law, for example, to comply with a court order or subpoena or to assist in criminal investigations; (c) when we deem it advisable to protect the rights, property, safety, or security of our Website, visitors, or others; and/or (d) to enforce our Website Terms and Conditions.

FOR PARENTS AND GUARDIANS

There are many activities and opportunities offered on the Alliance Website that children can explore without having to share personally identifiable information. Parents can request to review or have deleted their child’s personally identifiable information from the Alliance’s records, and/or refuse to permit further collection or use of their child’s personally identifiable information, by writing to us at: Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, “Re: Parent’s Request.” To request that we stop sending digital newsletters parents may follow the “unsubscribe” instructions found at the end these emails. For other digital communications parents can request cessation of contact by responding to the communication with the subject line “Unsubscribe.” Parents can also request that that their child not receives printed communications, publications and other physical materials, by emailing info@artandwriting.org with the subject line “Unsubscribe: Physical Mailings.” Unless we indicate otherwise and obtain prior parental consent, personally identifiable information collected from children will be used solely by the Alliance or the Alliance’s contractors, agents, or service providers for internal purposes (such as administration of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program and services related to the operation of our Site) and will not be sold or otherwise transferred to third parties.

NON-PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION AND THE USE OF COOKIES

Cookies and Collection of Non-Personally Identifiable Data: We collect non-personally identifiable information through the use of a software technology called “cookies”, through submissions our visitors volunteer to us and/or make upon our request. By non-personally identifiable information, we refer to information about our visitors’ browsers (e.g., Google Chrome or Internet Explorer), operating systems (e.g., Windows or Macintosh), Internet service providers (e.g., AOL or NET.COM) and other similar information (such as Website traffic, navigational and statistical user information), which we collect and track anonymously in individual or aggregate form. We may also collect non-personally identifiable information in connection with content submissions, special projects, questionnaires, surveys, etc. For example, such non-personally identifiable information may include: first name only and first initial of last name, state, age, and grade. The non-personally identifiable information that we collect or track is anonymous and we do not identify, match, link or combine it with, or trace it back to, any of our visitors’ personally identifiable information. Cookie technology helps us to know such information as how many people visit the Website, if these are new or return visitors to the Site, and where the visitors go on our Site. Cookies are small bits of information we send to your computer. Among other things, this non-personally identifiable information allows us to know which areas are favorites, which areas need improvement, or what technologies and Internet services are being used by our visitors so that we may continually improve our visitors’ online experiences. You can disable cookies on your computer by indicating your desire to do so in the preferences or option menu of your browser. NOTE: If you configure your computer to block or erase cookies you may not be able to use all or certain parts or features of our Website. Our site may also use a technology called “tracking pixels.” These may also be referred to as “Action Tags,” “Clear GIFs,” or “Web Beacons”. This technology allows us to understand which pages you visit on our Site. These tracking pixels allow us to understand the effectiveness of our outreach and are used to help us optimize and tailor our Site for you and other future Website visitors. We may also contract with third party service providers to operate web servers for our Website, to set cookies or similar data collection technologies on the Site, and/or to collect, store, analyze, and/or report to us the information gathered by these cookies or other data collection technologies. We contractually prohibit companies that provide these services from using cookies or other data collection technologies for any purpose other than the performance of these services to the Alliance, and from sharing the information collected with anyone other than us or our other service providers.

USE OF IP ADDRESSES

We collect IP addresses to obtain information on the use of our Website. An IP address is a number assigned to your computer by a Web server when you’re on the Web. When you are on our site, we have a back-end server that logs your computer’s IP address. We only use the information we find out from tracking IP addresses anonymously, such as in the aggregate, for example, to determine how many visitors entered a specific area of our site, and not to track a specific IP address to identify an individual visitor. However, we may use such information to identify a visitor if we feel that there are or may be safety and/or security issues, or to comply with legal requirements.

SECURITY

Making sure our visitors’ information is secure is an important priority at the Alliance. We maintain reasonable and appropriate measures to safeguard the information that you provide to us, and to comply with the data security requirements of applicable law. These measures include our use of secure server software over a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) line to protect your credit card information. It encrypts all of your personal and credit card information so that this information cannot be read as it travels to our ordering system, and that once it is received, it is stored in a location not accessible via the Internet. Disclaimer: While we strive to maintain the security of the data provided by the visitors to our Site, no transmission or storage of electronic data is ever completely secure. The Alliance cannot, and does not, therefore, warrant or guarantee the security of such information, or that your information will never be disclosed in a manner inconsistent with this Policy.